Skeletal Remains Found Near Kedarnath Shrine

Dehradun: More than three years after the 2013 natural disaster which killed thousands of people in Uttarakhand, some human skeletal remains have been found in a thickly forested area in Kedar Valley triggering speculation that they could belong to pilgrims who had perished in the deluge.

A combined team of police and SDRF personnel has been constituted to visit the area and verify the facts, Rudraprayag District Magistrate Raghav Langer told PTI. “We have no definite information regarding this so far.

We have only learnt from the media that some skeletal remains have been found in a densely forested area around Triyuginarayan. We have no idea who sighted them or how much they are in quantity. “From the sketchy information available it seems the location is far away from human habitation and it is too early to say anything with a measure of certainty,” the DM said today.

However, he did not rule out the possibility of the skeletal remains belonging to pilgrims who may have perished in the 2013 disaster which left a trail of death and devastation at the Himalayan shrine and areas close to it.

“Officially only 360 skeletons were found in the wake of the tragedy which claimed thousands of lives.It is obvious that a large majority of them remained untraced. The pilgrims must have run in different directions for life and died in far removed pockets.Nothing can be ruled out in such circumstances but as of now we don’t know anything,” he said.